Corrado. I love Alcina. I’ve loved her since the moment I met her in Modica. And I love Ele.”
She took a deep breath. “To hold my son changed my life, and to hold my niece…it’s hard for me to put into words how much that day meant to me.” She squeezed my hand. “I love you, and I don’t even know you. But I see. I see him in you. In the way you think. You get an idea, and it haunts you like a ghost.”
“Your husband,” I said. “He’s a ghost.”
“To you,” she said. “But I don’t care what he is to the world. I know who he is to me.” She released the pressure on my hand. “I know that you have this idea in your head, an idea that you refuse to let go of. It might be different from the one Corrado Palermo had, but the ending is the same. He killed his family because he couldn’t let go of how things were supposed to be.
“The funny thing is, you are exactly where he wanted to be. He wanted to be who you are in this life. He died for it. He sacrificed his entire family for it, including you.” She pointed at me. “What are you going to sacrifice for this idea of yours? Your family?”
She shook her head. “I refuse to allow you to sacrifice my family—for anything. I don’t abide by your rules, Corrado. I never have. I never will. So make no mistake. I know who I belong to, but I also know who belongs to me.” She pointed at her chest. “If you even look at my son, ever, with anything other than affection, I’ll kill you.”
I fell in love with her then. Her strength. Her character. Her unwavering principles.
It was too fucking bad mine were unwavering, too. We had that in common.
I stood from my seat, fixing my suit. I took measured steps, stopping when I was right behind her. I put my hands on her shoulders, and leaning down, placed a kiss on her head. “No matter what happens,” I said, “I’ll always be your brother. I’ll always be here for you, even if you don’t want me to.”
She reached out for me, putting her hands where mine had been, but I was already gone.
I took a card out of my suit pocket and handed it to Sylvester on my way out of the restaurant.
He lifted it up, questioning it.
I nodded to it. “My home address is on the back. I’m inviting your boss over for dinner. Make sure he gets that.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, tucking the card in his pocket. “Does he need any other information?”
“Such as?”
“Date and time.”
“We’re family,” I said, giving him a mocking smile. “He really doesn’t need an invite. He’s welcome anytime. But if he needs something more formal, tell him day after tomorrow.” I shrugged. “After dark.”
After all, ghosts couldn’t be seen during the day—their time to fucking play was at night.
37
Alcina
Something had changed.
The day after Corrado had gone to Macchiavello’s, after he had lunch with his sister, I could sense a shift in him. No longer was he obsessed with a thought, but he seemed to have accepted the outcome of it.
He made no plans.
He told me I was with him, which meant that the entire day, he wanted us to be together.
He woke up before me, bringing Ele to our bed. He watched her face as she ate. He carried her to the kitchen after, and even when she cried a little, he tried to make funny faces at her.
He fed her.
He dressed her.
He took her outside.
He was more present.
She did not smile at him, but she kept lifting her eyebrow, like she was trying to decide what his motives were before she gave him what he wanted.
Papà had flown in the night before, upset that mamma had not come home, and he wanted to see his granddaughter for the first time.
Ele had taken one look at him, at the face he made, and giggled.
“If it’s the last thing I ever do,” Corrado had said, watching them, “I’ll get her to smile for me.”
“You’re almost there,” I said, grinning at him. “But she is going to make you work for it.”
I had grinned to cover up what I truly felt. His words made me uneasy.
If it’s the last thing I ever do. I wanted it to be the first thing he ever did to set us in a different direction. But